Those who know my husband, know he can’t resist a bargain. Thats how we ended up, this evening, with our kitchen table piled high with carrots. No room in the fridge, which is a long story in itself because our fridge is the tiniest mini-fridge in existance and our owning/depending on it rather than a nice big ordinary fridge is the stuff spun from bad decisions made under the influence of jetlag.
So we have a mountain of carrots, and we’re having a heatwave, and we need to eat things quickly before they rot. Until the temperature dips back down to normal our lives are a race against time–the time it takes for stuff to decline from moist-plumpness into decay.
Which finds us tonight eating carrot soup. My husband has fond memories of carrot soup I made for him, but it involves a myriad of other vegetables, too. I just wanted to simmer some carrots and get out of the kitchen before I passed out. We do not have air conditioning.
I thought: a nice COOL carrot soup, one as easy to prepare and it is soothing and refreshing to spoon up. I had no idea where the flavour direction would go, however, so I started by making a light little puree of carrots; after that, I reasoned, I could turn it into a soup.
To start, I simmered a lot of sliced carrots and a small handful of rice with a mixture of water and chicken broth until tender. The small amount of rice thickens the vegetable lightly, without interfering in the character of the vegetable, or making the soup too heavy, like flour or potato can do. Next, I pureed the carrots, stock and rice until smooth; I used a hand held stick blender but you could use a food processor or jar blender if that is what you have in your kitchen.
When I tasted the lovely oranged-coloured mixture, I thought: garlic. (This might have just been me, I usually think: garlic), so i stirred in one chopped garlic clove. The soup was hot, the garlic didn’t exactly cook but its raw fiery taste was tamed a bit.
I let it cool to room temperature and then decided how to finish it off. It was hard to decide, in that way when the weather is really really hot, and it is hard to think or decide about anything….and while there were only two of us, I had enough for at least 4 bowlfuls. We could eat it two nights running, flavoured completely differently each night.
The first night, we ate it at cool room temperature with a bit of cream, swirled but not completely stirred in, as well as a scattering of fresh tarragon and some chopped toasted hazelnuts. It was wonderful, sipped in the garden as the evening cooled somewhat.
Carrot Puree:
If you want to make the carrot puree, and do as we did, eat half one way and half the other, here is the basic recipe; if you want to make the basic carrot puree and then come up with your own way to go seasoning and flavouring and character wise, here is the basic recipe. Otherwise, each of the recipes include this step of cooking and pureeing the carrots.
About 10 nice plump firm carrots, peeled and sliced
2 -3 tablespoons raw rice
About 1 litre/6 cups liquid: I used a mixture of half water and half chicken stock
1 clove garlic
Combine the carrots with the liquid and rice; bring to the boil, reduce heat and cook until the carrots are tender and the rice is soft, about 10 minutes.
Puree using a food processor, blender or hand held stick blender.
Chill until ready to use.
Creamy Cool Carrot Soup, with Tarragon and Hazelnuts
Serves 4
About 10 nice plump firm carrots, peeled and sliced
2 -3 tablespoons raw rice
About 1 litre/6 cups liquid: I used a mixture of half water and half chicken stock
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
About 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
About 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, coarsely chopped
About 4 tablespoons toasted, chopped, hazelnuts (see end of recipe for directions)
Combine carrots with the liquid in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook over medium heat until the carrots are tender and the rice is soft, about 10 minutes. Puree until smooth in either a blender or food processor, or use a hand-held blender.
Leave to cool or chill, and ladle into bowls, then pour or spoon in a few tablespoons of cream per bowl, and sprinkle generously with the tarragon and hazelnuts.
Cool Carrot Soup with Turkish Flavours: Cumin, Dill, and Yogurt
Serves 4
About 10 nice plump firm carrots, peeled and sliced
2 -3 tablespoons raw rice
About 1 litre/6 cups liquid: I used a mixture of half water and half chicken stock
1 clove garlic
About 6 fl oz/ 175 ml Greek yogurt, enough for several tablespoons per bowl
Large pinch ground cumin
Large pinch smoked paprika
2-3 tablespoons coarsely chopped dill
A drizzle of evoo per bowlful
Ladle the cool/chilled carrot puree into bowls and top each with a big spoonful or two of Greek yogurt. Sprinkle the top with cumin, paprika, and dill, then drizzle with evoo.
Sit outside in the garden and enjoy.
With over 70 cookbook titles (including contributions) to her credit, Marlena conjures up flavours and dishes from the Mediterranean to Mexico, California to France to the Italian islands and single subjects such as chili peppers, olive oil, mushrooms, to a book on classic Jewish food from all over the world.